Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 203 New Era

In [-] A.D., the Portuguese prince sent a fleet to explore and colonize the northern waters of Africa, thus opening a centuries-long era of great navigation.

During this period, the seafaring technology of continental Europe developed rapidly, and Spain and Portugal also relied on the resources plundered by the colonies, and soon became the maritime overlords in the early days of the Great Age of Discovery.

Their hegemony lasted for nearly 200 years, and their maritime hegemony was slowly replaced until the rise of the Netherlands.

In 13 AD, which was the [-]th year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He had already led the fleet of the Daming Navy to explore the Western Seas four times, and the furthest one even reached the Persian Sea, which was nearly [-] miles away.

In other words, at that time, the Ming Dynasty was the well-deserved overlord of the sea. When Spain and Portugal were still carefully exploring the waters of northern Africa with small sailboats with a displacement of only a few hundred tons, the Ming Dynasty had already built a ship with a displacement of nearly [-] tons. Zheng He Treasure Ship!
This is not an exaggeration at all, because according to the shipbuilding data at that time, the displacement of the largest Zheng He treasure ship was not [-] tons, but [-] tons!
This data is still somewhat controversial, because a [-]-ton sailboat can still move, and a [-]-ton sailboat seems to have exceeded the limit of sail power.

Of course, regardless of whether it was [-] tons or [-] tons, Daming's shipbuilding technology and navigation technology far surpassed all countries in the world at that time.

It's a pity that while the shipbuilding and navigation technologies of the European countries are developing rapidly, the shipbuilding and navigation technologies of Ming Dynasty are retreating rapidly!

At this time, it was difficult for Daming's fleet to go to Southeast Asia, which was thousands of miles away, let alone go to America, which was more than [-] miles away.

Looking at the shocked officials, Taichang couldn't help feeling secretly.

Daming, you've been asleep for too long, it's time to wake up and catch up.

He looked at the map, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, we will talk about the issue of Dongpu later. If you can't get supplies from Dongpu, where do you most hope to get supplies from?"

Carlinio pointed to Nuer Gandu Si in the northeast of Liaodong and said: "This is the territory of your Ming Empire. If there is a port here for us to stop for repairs and replenish food and fresh water, then the cargo capacity of our fleet will It can be increased by at least half."

Uh, the place this guy pointed to turned out to be where the Haixi Jurchen Department was originally located!

Now the Haixi Jurchen Department has been annexed by Jiannu, it can no longer be regarded as the territory of Ming Dynasty!

All the ministers frowned as they looked at the position Carinho was pointing at.

But Taichang said with bright eyes: "If you really want to repair and get supplies from there, I can send people to build a port there."

Carinho was naturally very excited when he heard the words. You must know that their fleet can't stop in Dongpu and Ming Dynasty for repairs at all, let alone get supplies. Therefore, the fleet from America can only go slowly Going south, waiting for the right monsoon and ocean currents, this delay is at least two or three months!

The food and fresh water they need to consume in two or three months is quite astonishing. If you add the one month across the ocean, the food and fresh water they need to carry takes up more than half of their capacity.

It would be great if the Ming Empire could really establish a port there.

All the ministers were dumbfounded when they heard the words.

Now go there to build a port, can Jiannu let it pass?

Even if it passes, Jiannu will take advantage of their opportunity to build the port and attack!

Lu Xiangsheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, frowned and pondered for a while, and then couldn't help reminding: "Your Majesty, there is still a place where slaves can be built, and the Shenji Camp and Shenwu Camp are not here, so we can't rush there!"

Taichang said confidently: "Don't worry, it is definitely impossible for their fleet to go somewhere to replenish this year, and there is still more than a year to go. Even if the Shenji Battalion cannot come back by then, the Ministry of Industry will be able to build enough Equipped with muskets, cannons, and chariots for tens of thousands of people, the remaining cavalry of Jiannu are not to be feared at all. If they really go to attack the port, they will kill themselves. We must go by land, as long as there are enough ships, it will be faster and more convenient to go by sea.”

This, well, if there are enough wheels and ships, it is indeed much more convenient to go by sea.

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "The emperor is wise."

Taichang nodded slightly, and then said to Carlino: "Okay, we will build this port within a year, do you still need to stop for supplies elsewhere?"

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire is also very kind.

Carlino thanked him again and again, then pointed to the vicinity of the Yangtze River Estuary and said, "It would be even better if there is a port here for our fleet to dock for supplies."

Hey, these guys don't seem to know that a new city is being built in Taicang Prefecture.

Counting the time, the new town in Taicang Prefecture should be completed next year.

Taichang pretended to hesitate for a while, then slowly nodded and said: "Okay, no problem, I ordered people to build a port there too."

When Carinho heard the words, he was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Empire was beyond his imagination.

He could only bow again and again to express his thanks.

Taichang nodded slightly, then raised his hand and said: "Okay, the matter of this port is settled like this. Next, let's talk about the Dutch. How do you compare with the Dutch? I need to listen to the truth, or else , we cannot cooperate in this regard.”

This means that you don't want to deceive us, we will foolishly serve you as cannon fodder.

Hearing this, Carinho frowned and struggled for a while, but still endured embarrassment and said: "Well, our strength is far superior to that of the Dutch, but unfortunately, our Armada's five expeditions to England have encountered storms at sea. , The loss was heavy, and thousands of main battleships and tens of thousands of artillery pieces were lost, so the strength of the Netherlands is slightly stronger than ours at the moment."

Thousands of main battleships and tens of thousands of artillery pieces!
Bragging, right?

Taichang didn't believe it, and all the trusted ministers were even more dumbfounded.

Sea Overlord, is it so scary?

Not to mention, Carinho really wasn't bragging. If the Spanish Armada hadn't encountered sea storms during their five expeditions to England and was completely damaged, they really had thousands of main battleships and tens of thousands of artillery pieces!
This strength is really a bit scary.

Taichang was startled for a while, and then asked again: "So how many warships and artillery do the Dutch have now?"

Carinho said helplessly: "The Dutch don't have many warships, maybe two or three hundred, but they have a lot of armed merchant ships, tens of thousands!"

My God, tens of thousands of armed merchant ships!
Taichang knew very well that the armed merchant ships mentioned by Carlinio were not small warships like the Daming Navy. They were the overlords of the sea, so it was impossible to build small boats that could not sail in the ocean. Large sailing ship sailing out to sea.

Fortunately, the European continent is far away, and it is not easy even for a large sailing ship. The Dutch should not have too many warships and armed merchant ships near Nanyang. After all, even the Spanish Armada has never heard of it. over the Far East.

Taichang frowned and pondered for a while, then asked: "Do you have any basis for saying that the Dutch intend to invade Daming?"

Yes!

Carinho quickly pointed to the map and introduced: "The Dutch have already captured Batavia and established ports and cities. At this moment they have already started doing business with the Japanese people, and from Batavia to There are tens of thousands of miles in Japan, and they must want to get a supply point halfway to save space for fresh water and food. We estimate that they should attack the nearby area soon."

Fujian and Dongfan!
Hearing this, Taichang couldn't help but be solemn.

He remembered, didn't Zou Weilian defeat the Dutch fleet in Fujian in history!
It seems that the Spaniards have long discovered the intentions of the Dutch.

In other words, this guy is not lying, the Dutch are really planning to attack Daming!
Anyway, this battle has to be fought if not fought, and the conflict between the Spaniards and the Dutch can be used.

Thinking of this, Taichang nodded slightly and said: "Okay, let's cooperate to deal with the Dutch. If you find out the movement of the Dutch fleet, you can send someone to tell us, and we will send troops together to deal with them."

At this point, the negotiation is successfully concluded.

Next, Taichang ordered Xu Guangqi and Carlinio to draw up a detailed agreement, and personally signed his name and sealed it.

This agreement can be said to be the beginning of Ming Dynasty's march towards the era of great voyages, and thus Ming Dynasty has entered a new era.

(End of this chapter)